US troops to leave some long-standing bases in Iraq under deal

WASHINGTON (AP) The United States announced Friday an agreement with the Iraqi government to conclude the military mission in Iraq of a U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by next year, U.S. troops leaving certain bases that they have occupied for a long time during a war. military presence in the country for two decades.

But the Biden administration has refused to provide details on how many of the roughly 2,500 U.S. troops still serving in Iraq will remain there or acknowledge that it would mark a complete withdrawal from the country.

I think it's fair to say that, you know, our footprint is going to change domestically, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday, without providing details.

The announcement comes at a particularly controversial time for the Middle East, with the escalation of conflict between Israel and two Iranian-backed militant groups, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, threatening a wider regional war . Bases housing U.S. forces and contractors have been regularly targeted by Iranian-backed militias in recent years, and these attacks intensified late last year and early spring after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas almost a year ago.

For years, Iraqi officials have periodically called for the withdrawal of coalition forces, and formal talks aimed at ending the U.S. presence in the country have continued for months.

U.S. officials who briefed reporters Friday said the deal would result in a two-phase transition in troops assigned to Iraq, which began this month. During the first phase, which runs until September 2025, the coalition's mission against ISIS will end and forces will leave some long-standing bases.

After the November elections, U.S. forces will begin taking off from Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq and Baghdad International Airport, according to Iraqi government officials who spoke spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. These forces will be transferred to the Hareer base in Erbil, in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, in the north of the country.

In the second phase, the United States will continue to operate in one way or another from Iraq until 2026 to support counter-IS operations in Syria, a senior ISIS official said. he Biden administration and a senior defense official spoke on condition of anonymity on a call with reporters to provide information. details before announcement.

Ultimately, the U.S. military mission would evolve into a bilateral security relationship, U.S. officials said, but they did not indicate what that might mean for the number of U.S. troops who remain in Iraq in the future.

Iraqi officials have said some U.S. troops may remain at the Hareer base after 2026 because the Kurdistan Regional Government wants them to stay.

We have taken an important step in resolving the issue of the international coalition to fight ISIS, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani said in a speech this month. He underlined the government's confidence in the capabilities of our security forces who defeated the remnants of ISIS.

The continued presence of U.S. troops poses a political vulnerability for Sudan, whose government is under growing influence from Iran. Iraq has long struggled to balance ties with the United States and Iran, both allies of the Iraqi government but sworn enemies in the region.

We thank the government for its decision to expel international coalition forces, Qais Khazali, founder of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite militia that has carried out attacks against American forces in Iraq.

But critics warn that this year's surge in ISIS attacks in Syria, across the desert border with Iraq, suggests that Iraq's withdrawal is a real cause for concern, said Charles Lister, a researcher principal at the Middle East Institute Research Center in Washington.

The US withdrawal from Iraq is not due to the demise of ISIS, Lister said. This withdrawal is explained by the fact that a significant proportion of the political community in Baghdad does not want American troops on Iraqi soil.

The agreement marks the third time in the past two decades that the United States has announced a formal transition of the military role there.

The United States invaded Iraq in March 2003 in what it called a massive shock-and-awe bombing campaign that lit up the skies, ravaged large parts of the country and paved the way for troops to converge American land routes to Baghdad. The invasion was based on what turned out to be erroneous claims that Saddam Hussein had secretly hidden weapons of mass destruction. Such weapons never materialized.

The U.S. presence grew to more than 170,000 troops at the height of counterinsurgency operations in 2007. The Obama administration negotiated the withdrawal of forces, and in December 2011 the last combat troops left, leaving behind them only a small number of soldiers to staff an army. security assistance office and a detachment of Marines to guard the embassy compound.

In 2014, the rise of the Islamic State group and its rapid capture of large parts of Iraq and Syria brought back U.S. and partner forces at the invitation of the Iraqi government to help rebuild and retrain units. of police and soldiers who had collapsed and fled.

After ISIS lost its grip on territory it once claimed, coalition military operations ended in 2021. An enduring U.S. presence of approximately 2,500 troops remained in Iraq to maintain training and carry out operations to combat ISIS in partnership with the Iraqi army.

In the years that followed, the United States maintained this presence to put pressure on Iranian-backed militias active in Iraq and Syria. The presence of U.S. forces in Iraq also makes it more difficult for Iran to transport weapons through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon, for use by its proxies, including Lebanese Hezbollah, against Israel.

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AP Writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.

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